"Marbella, Spain Wander out to the balcony around sunrise and beyond the bougainvillea and ceiba flowers rustling in the breeze you’ll hear the Mediterranean rolling in. Built like a traditional Andalucian village with whitewashed walls, sky-blue ceramic tiles and winding terra-cotta pathways, Puente Romano opened in the late 1970s just down the Golden Mile from its older sister The Marbella Club. And after a series of refurbishments and embellishments—including a Six Senses spa, Nobu outpost and turbo-charged tennis club where Novak Djokovic’s coaches Pepe Imaz and Marko Djokovic give lessons to guests—it may even have the edge now. While most of southern Spain’s smartest stays shout about their seclusion, this hotel is firmly rooted as a local hub—there will be a gang of cocktail-sipping marbellís at Ibiza offshoot El Chiringuito, weekending madrileño couples strolling on the silver-sand beach, and Valencian children trotting to cooking classes in the dynamic kids’ club. It is a busy machine of a place veiled as a laidback hangout. Dawn beach yoga gives way to lazy breakfasts of mushroom omelettes, just-cut jamón, and freshly squeezed orange juice at Bali-feel Sea Grill before a dip in one of the pools. The spa gets crazy booked up for its new CBD-oil massages, as do martial-arts sessions in the just-revamped gym (the wellness and fitness program is ever-changing). In the evening, as the sky swirls dusty pink, everyone gathers by the first-century Roman bridge at buzzy La Plaza. Punchy chili-coconut mojitos do the rounds; superstar Dani García’s team delivers wood-fired tapas and succulent steaks; and Nobu chef Eleni Manousou works magic with market-fresh produce in spinach and miso salads or spicy salmon maki. The sun-baked Costa del Sol sometimes gets short shrift, but for an all-singing, all-dancing, everything-at-your-fingertips break, this is about as reliable as it gets. Price: Junior suites start at $448 per night for a family of three" - Lauren Burvill
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